As business in the NHL slowly creeps along in light of the approaching lockout, the Bruins today took care of some more roster-building work by securing the services of what they hope will be one of their central building blocks year into the future.

There’s no telling what entry-level contracts will look like once a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed, so getting a deal done now was beneficial to both sides. The current CBA expires Sept. 15 with no talks scheduled between the owners and the NHLPA as of this afternoon. It is widely expected the owners will enact a lockout next week.

With or without an NHL camp this fall, Subban is expected to return to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League to be the No. 1 goaltender and continue to hone his craft. Last season with the Bulls, the 18-year-old Subban posted a 2.50 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. Boston selected him 24th overall.